Boxed Set: Steel: Blacthorne MC Romance (23 page)

N
ick

When Jackson and I reached the club, it was already growing dark.

There were a ton of bikes lined up in the parking lot, and a huge, great, flickering, neon sign stood on top of the roof. Painted flames framed the name of the club:
Sizzle
.

I was ready to go in, guns blazing, through the front door, but Jackson persuaded me it would be better to use covert tactics.

He was right. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just needed to get in there and find out if they had Ella. I couldn’t bear not knowing where she was or what was happening to her. It was killing me.

We parked up a short distance down the road from the bar, where there were a few prickly bushes we used for cover. Despite our best attempts to hide the bikes, headlights from passing vehicles, would illuminate the shiny chrome, but we could only hope they weren’t any passers-by curious enough to investigate further.

We jogged back to the club, along the side of the road, but then stopped a few yards away. Jackson was determined to scout out the location before we got any closer.

The music from the club was loud, a heavy, thumping beat that carried out on the desert air.

I could feel my blood boiling as I stood beside him, watching, looking for any sign to tell us where Ella was.

I’d been an idiot. If somehow, we managed to find her again, I promised myself I would do everything differently.

Screw Victor and the Blackthorne crew.
If I could just get Ella in my arms again, I wasn’t ever letting her go.

I should have gone with her when she asked me. My pathetic attempt to act in what I thought was her best interests had been a total failure.

I’d been scared. Scared to turn my back on this life and try to build a new one. Scared that I’d let her down. Scared that she would one day realize I wasn’t good enough for her.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to find her.

I took a step forward, but Jackson reached out, tugging on my arm. “Wait!”

This was a dangerous situation to be in. We were on Venom land, enemy territory to us.

“Do you see that guy over there?” Jackson said, nodding to a biker, who was almost as wide as he was tall.

The man’s neck was bulging with muscle, and his huge shoulders were hunched as he walked around the perimeter of the club. To a casual observer, it looked like he was just taking a walk while smoking a cigarette, but I knew as well as Jackson did that this guy was on security detail.

“That’s our only chance of getting in without being seen.” I said to Jackson. “We need to take him out.”

Jackson hesitated then gave me a single nod.

We separated, Jackson going wide to surprise him from the front, and I circled round behind him.

The guy didn’t know what hit him. I snuck up behind him and grabbed him in a headlock, pressing my arm against his windpipe for good measure.

Jackson hurried up to us and looked over his shoulder anxious to make sure that nobody could see us.

“Tell me what you’ve done with the girl,” I demanded, tightening my grip on the man’s neck.

“What? What girl? I don’t know what you mean,” the man spluttered.

His face was screwed up and the neon lights gave his sweaty face a grotesque look.

My stomach clenched in fear. He
had
to know. She had to be here. If she wasn’t, I didn’t know where to start looking for her. If anything happened to Ella, it would be my fault, and I would never forgive myself.

“Ella” I said her name, and my voice was raw and gritty. “A member of your nasty little MC took her this afternoon from the sheriff’s office. And
you
are going to tell me exactly where she is.”

“Go to hell,” the guy managed to spit out, and he tried to use his body weight to send me off balance and make me release my hold.

It didn’t work. There was no way I was letting this bastard get away if he had information that would lead me to Ella.

I punched him low in the back just below the kidneys, and he grunted in pain.

Jackson had been silent so far, but now he stepped forward, leaned down and pulled a knife from a strap around his leg. He held it up, and it shone in the neon lights from the sign.

Jackson’s face was blank, but the threat was very clear. He held up the knife to the man’s face and pressed it against the plump skin of the man’s cheek.

The guy’s eyes grew wide and panicked. But he still insisted he didn’t know who we were talking about.

Then Jackson spoke for the first time, “If you don’t tell us where she is right now, I will kill you.”

His voice was quiet but menacing. I had to hand it to him, for a cop, Jackson made a very convincing biker outlaw.

The man’s lip began to wobble, and I felt him stop struggling against my hold. “All right. She’s in a room at the back with the other girl.”

I frowned.
The other girl?

But I didn’t have time to think about that right now.

“Which room?” I demanded, squeezing his neck a little tighter.

“Round the back, third window,” he grunted out.

I released my hold and let go of his neck, and he staggered forward, rubbing his throat, which was red from where my arm had been gripping him.

Before he could recover, though, Jackson slammed a fist into the side of the man’s face, and he went down like a ton of bricks.

I looked at Jackson, surprised. I hadn’t expected that. I was planning to take him with us, maybe extract a little revenge on the way.

I shook my head at Jackson, and as I started to walk off towards the back of the bar to get Ella, I said to him over my shoulder, “I didn’t think cops were meant to do things like that.”

“It was better than what you were planning to do with him, Steel,” Jackson said cooly.

I shrugged, I didn’t care about the fate of a foot soldier in the Venom MC. I’d already forgotten about him as I started to run off towards the back of the club.

“Wait!” Jackson called after me. “We have to hide him otherwise someone’s going to realize something is wrong.”

“You do it,” I said and then turned my back on him and ran towards where they were keeping Ella.

E
lla

I listened as Claire told me how awful her time with the Venom MC had been. I realized I’d been lucky in comparison.

I had no idea what they were going to do to us now. We were witnesses to a murder, and so we were a thorn in the side of both the Venom
and
the Blackthorn MC.

My throat was so dry. I really needed a drink, but I was trying to refrain from drinking from Claire’s bottle of water.

Claire was already succumbing to the effects of whatever they had put in her water, and her head dropped down to rest on my shoulder.

“Sorry,” she mumbled with her eyes shut. “I’m just so tired.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Get some sleep. We’ll figure out our plan in the morning,”

But Claire never got to sleep. A second after she’d rested her head against my shoulder, the door burst open.

I felt a coil of terror building inside me. I was shaking.

It was the huge biker from earlier, the same one who’d taken me from the sheriff’s office.

Claire jumped as he entered and whimpered beside me, clearly just as terrified as I was. I used my heels to push myself as far back on the bed as I could.

The smile he gave us made my stomach clench.

I knew instinctively, this man was evil.

He licked his lips. “I promised you I’d come back, didn’t I?” He asked smirking at me. “I thought I’d see if you lived up to my expectations.”

He took a step forward, and I gasped, pushing myself back against the wall.

“Leave us alone,” I shouted, trying to sound more confident than I felt.

Don’t let him see you’re scared, Ella, I told myself.
He likes it
.

My heart was thundering in my chest as he swaggered towards us. He smiled down at both of us. “Two for the price of one.”

He reached across the bed and shoved his hand beneath Claire’s top, fondling her breasts. His face was slack with lust as he groped her.

I watched him in horror, and then reacted by trying to yank his arm away. “Get off her!”

Claire curled up in a fetal position on the bed, shaking, and he turned to me.

His eyes glinted evilly. “Don’t be jealous, baby. There’s plenty of me to go around.”

He reached out, pulling me towards him, and I realized just how strong he was and how helpless I was in comparison.

He grabbed my hand and held it against his crotch. The bulge of his pants jerked as he rubbed my hand back and forth over him.

Horrified, I tried to pull away, but he held me too firmly.

He reached under my top to grab a handful of my breasts and pinched my nipple painfully.

I knew it excited him more, but I couldn’t help struggling. I just wanted him to stop touching me. I tried to smack his hands away.

“Yeah, baby. That’s the way I like it.”

Claire was fighting back, too. Her legs kicked out at him as she tried to push against his chest to get him away from me, but if anything, that just seemed to turn him on more.

He let my hand drop and then reached for the buckle on his belt, looking down at us both and licking his lips.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said as he unfastened his belt and popped the first button of his jeans.

N
ick

I found the room easily. It was the only one with a light on. I could see Ella on the bed along with another girl. There was a huge biker, wearing a bandana, standing in front of them. He was talking, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

I fought against the overwhelming urge to just burst through the window right now and take her away, but I knew it was more sensible to wait until the biker left the room. If the Venom MC were alerted to the fact Jackson and I were here, we were all as good as dead.

The biker couldn’t stay there all night surely. I just had to wait until he left the room, I told myself, clenching my fists at my sides. At least Ella looked unhurt.

I tried to hold myself back and wait for Jackson before I made my move. But then something happened that made me forget Jackson.

It made me forget that there was a whole club load of bikers less than fifty yards away. The fucker reached down and started to undo his belt.

Afterwards, it was hard to remember what order things happened in, but I knew my fist closed around a rock, which I used to smash the window.

The broken glass cut my arms as I reached inside, but I barely noticed.

The window was tiny, but somehow I managed to shove myself through the jagged glass and growl, “Get your goddamn hands off her now!”

E
lla

I blinked in disbelief as there was the sound of shattering glass, and Nick suddenly launched himself through the window.

The look on my attacker’s face, as he stood there with his pants open, was almost comical. I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so scared.

Claire screamed as Nick threw himself across the room, grabbing the man by the throat, and they both crashed to the floor in a melee of flying fists.

I looked around wildly for something I could use as a weapon to help him.

Claire screamed again, and I saw she was looking at the window. It was Jackson. He quickly pushed his large frame through the small window and immediately set about helping Nick.

Not that Nick needed much help. The guy with the bandana was laying out cold on the floor with blood pouring from a cut above his eyebrow.

Jackson growled. “Christ, Steel. Would it have killed you to have waited?”

Nick looked up, and his eyes were wild as they found mine.

“Yes, it would. I couldn’t wait,” he said simply and then pulled me into his arms, crushing me against his broad chest.

I threw my arms around Nick’s neck. I’d never been so glad to see anyone in my life.

Yes, it was crazy, and yes, I needed a psych evaluation, but I knew I wanted to be with him.

Claire was rigid by my side. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Nick and Jackson.

I reached over to try and reassure her, but Nick wouldn’t let me go.

“It’s okay,” I said to Claire. “It’s Jackson and Nick. I know them, and they won’t hurt us.” I stopped short of saying she could trust them.

Jackson pulled on Nick’s shoulder and shook him. “Get it together,” he said. “They would have heard that, and they’ll be coming for us. We need to go
now
.”

Claire looked at me and hesitated, but then she stood up and nodded.

Jackson climbed out of the window first and then helped Claire and I out, carefully protecting us from the broken glass. Nick climbed out and grabbed my hand, pulling me along as we ran away from the club.

“Wait!” I panted. “Surely we can’t
run
away. Where are the bikes?” I had assumed they would be in the parking lot.

“Not far.” Nick pulled my hand, urging me along.

I looked across and saw Jackson scooping Claire up in his arms. She was still out of it from whatever the bikers had used to drug the water.

My chest was screaming out for air by the time we reached the bikes, and I could hear a commotion back at the club.

I slid onto the back of Nick’s bike. It felt so good to wrap my arms around him and feel my body pressed tight against his.

“Back to Blackthorne?” Jackson asked as he turned his bike around.

Nick shook his head. “Not yet. We need to go somewhere neutral.”

Jackson nodded. “Follow me. I know just the place.”

E
lla

We rode along the deserted desert road for around an hour. I hugged Nick tightly, so glad he had arrived when he did.

Jackson led us to a small motel. It looked well cared for, and nothing like the places we’d been staying in. There was no loud music booming, and no scantily clad women strolling about.

Nick pulled up his bike beside Jackson’s and switched the engine off.

“I’ll check us in,” Nick said, climbing off the bike.

He hesitated before he went, then leaned in to kiss me tenderly on the cheek. “I’m so sorry, Ella.”

I didn’t know what to say as I watched him walk off to the reception.

Jackson was watching me carefully.

I walked across to Claire to make sure she was okay. Despite everything that had happened, she smiled at me and pulled me in for a hug. “We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

Jackson narrowed his eyes as he looked at us. “Have you taken something?” he asked Claire.

“They drugged her water,” I said. “To keep her quiet.”

Jackson’s normally cool, impassive face took on a horrified expression. “Assholes,” he muttered fiercely.

He cupped her face in his hands, looking into her eyes and then smoothed her hair back from her face. The way his huge hands tenderly and delicately touched her made me smile. He was a good guy.

“I’m actually starting to feel much better,” Claire said, looking slightly dazed. “I think the effects are wearing off.”

Claire shivered, and Jackson shrugged off his jacket and held it out to her. “Here.”

Claire reached for it and smiled shyly, looking up at Jackson through her lashes.

I caught the look that passed between them. I thought Claire may have fallen under Jackson’s spell already. That was
fast
work.

I felt Nick’s arms encircle me and pull me tightly to him. “There’s three rooms left,” he said.

Jackson reached out to take one of the keys from Nick. “The girls can share. Is that okay with you?” Jackson asked looking at Claire and me in turn. “Will you be okay on your own?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be okay.”

But Nick still held me tightly, as if he didn’t want to let me go.

“The three rooms are in a row, so Jackson and I will take the rooms on the edge, and you girls can have the one in the middle. Any problems, just yell, and we’ll hear you.”

I turned around in Nick’s arms, looking up at his gorgeous face, wishing I could get him alone for just five minutes. His dark eyes burned down into mine as his gaze traced my face before falling on my lips.

He leaned forward to touch his lips to mine gently.

“Okay, you two. Break it up. Let’s get inside,” Jackson said.

But before I pulled away, Nick whispered in my ear, “Come to me later, Ella.”

My skin tingled in anticipation.

The room Claire and I were sharing had two single beds, and they looked clean and comfortable enough.

We had an adjoining door with Jackson’s room. He knocked softly, and I opened the door.

“Is everything okay?”

His eyes fixed on my face and then traveled past me to Claire, who was already laying on top of the bed.

“We’re fine,” I said.

“I’ll leave this door unlocked,” Jackson said. “In case you need anything.”

“Thanks,” I said and smiled at him before shutting the door.

I kicked off my shoes and then fell back on the bed. My mind was still racing after everything that had happened that day.

It had so nearly ended in disaster. But now, I was right back where I started with the Blackthorn MC. The strange thing was, I didn’t feel the burning need to leave anymore. I never wanted to leave Nick again.

“Are you okay?” Claire asked me.

“I think so. We had a lucky escape.”

“You want to go to him, don’t you?”

“Sorry?”

“Nick. You really like him. I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at him.”

Claire could read me like a book. She always had been able to.

I nodded. “He’s a good guy, deep down.”

Claire looked at me carefully for a moment, then said, “Do you love him?”

I swallowed hard, and then I nodded.

I had fallen head over heels for Nick Steel. I couldn’t imagine returning to my life in New York and never seeing him again. I didn’t even want to imagine that.

I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted my life back in New York, but I wanted Nick there to share it with me, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Something was going to have to be sacrificed.

“I can’t stop thinking about him,” I admitted to Claire.

Claire got up from her bed and came to sit beside me on mine. “Do you want to go to him now?”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I’ll be fine, Ella. Jackson is just through that door. Go to Nick.”

I hesitated. “No. I need to put you first,” I insisted. “I’ll have plenty of time to be with Nick.”

Claire shook her head. “Don’t be crazy. I will fall asleep as soon as my head hits that pillow. Go to him now and tell him how you feel. If something good comes out of this whole crazy situation, it will make me feel better.”

I sat up.
Could I really go to him now?

I leaned down to put on my shoes, but then I hesitated. “Are you really sure you’ll be okay?”

Claire rolled her eyes. “Yes! Just go and have amazing sex with your hot biker, and then you can give me all the steamy details tomorrow.”

She winked at me, and I grinned back.